The disclosure relates to gas turbine engines, and more particularly to heat shields used in gas turbine engines.
Gas turbine engines operate according to a continuous-flow, Brayton cycle. A compressor section pressurizes an ambient air stream, fuel is added and the mixture is burned in a central combustor section. The combustion products expand through a turbine section where bladed rotors convert thermal energy from the combustion products into mechanical energy for rotating one or more centrally mounted shafts. The shafts, in turn, drive the forward compressor section, thus continuing the cycle. Gas turbine engines are compact and powerful power plants, making them suitable for powering aircraft, heavy equipment, ships and electrical power generators. In power generating applications, the combustion products can also drive a separate power turbine attached to an electrical generator.
For many stator vane assemblies, a fairing is disposed about a frame in order to define a main gas flow path for the gas turbine engine. As the fairing is directly exposed to gas flow, including combustion gases, the fairing can be heated to high temperatures during operation. Heat from the fairing can heat the frame in an undesirable manner.